A New Meaning
by AnonRecon
Summary: It was a constant fear that man always faced: The fear of insignificance


_AN-This was a request from a DeviantART user who I thought fell off the face of the earth years ago. Always having a HUGE love of the Transformers movies, I stumbled upon their work a few times and found it to be pretty entertaining, though in need of a little work in terms of grammar, spelling, and story structure, the ladder being that they had issues progressing character development naturally, but, all in all, I thought they were decent works (Just some honest criticism). I got a random PM here a few weeks ago with this user asking me to write a story involving certain characters and linked me to their previous work as a reference. Can't believe they're still alive. I'm glad you gave this to me, man. I hope I do well by you. Anyway, this is a sort of alternate universe/ Alternate timeline with a bit of character re-writing for the satisfaction of the reader and the one who requested this. I also don't think I could deal with writing racial slurs and the amount of cussing that keeping certain characters the way they were would involve._

Of any number of possibly rude awakenings, that by thunder had to have been his least favorite. It reminded him of explosions and caused him to leap from his bed every time. It shook the walls and the floor and he curled up with his hands over his ears until the noise slowly rolled away, allowing him time to realize what it was before the next wave came. That morning was no different. As he stood up and glared out his bedroom window, who's pane was fogged and decorated with small streaks of water, he sighed and let his senses return to him. The next roll did not frighten him. He stood and looked at his clock. It was six-thirty a.m. He hadn't anywhere to be, but why not rise to nature's call for once? He surely wasn't going to get back to sleep, anyway, be it his nerves or his dreams that ruined the bed's attractiveness.

For the past few years, all Leo Spitz could think about, all he could dream about, was the thought of the world crumbling to bits under the weight of a robotic civil war which had brought itself to Earth some thirteen years prior. The most violent of the war's battles was that in Chicago which left thousands dead and a world reeling from shock. People responded to the incident like they did to the September eleventh attacks, fearing ANY alien presence, even that of the good ones. Leo had been called in many times to speak for the good of the Autobots as well as his former collage roommate, Sam. Aside from that incident, he hadn't been in much contact with Sam or the alien robots since. One might think of that as some comfort, but, to him, it was somewhat disheartening. Sam had a guardian. Major Lennox had a guardian. Many lives that had just barely scraped the toes of NEST had guardians. Leo was alone and unimportant. That lead into his second paranoia: he was insignificant. Prior to getting in contact with the actual aliens, Leo had made finding proof of their existence a hobby. He may have seemed like he took it seriously, but, under it all, he hoped the search never ended. He hoped that he could keep going round and round on his web-site for the rest of his life, arguing with people and pointing out tiny details in blurry footage. After the fact, what point was there? Everyone knew the aliens existed and everyone knew that they resided on earth, hiding among them. It had become a fact of life and one that would never change. His life's work became more of a mockery than it already was.

He was nothing. The universe had greater plans and problems that made his no more important than a slight breeze on a blade of grass, though some philosophers might beg to differ. Nothing mattered. Human lives were dust compared to the amazing life-spans of the cybertronians who had seen many of them go by without nary a second glance. All he was was a lonely human, living out the rest of his existence in a small house in the woods. Some days, he even had to convince himself to get up to buy food. He had no job and was simply alive due to the government's care after his close involvement with the Autobots. How he managed to seem so nonchalant about it all was merely a highly resolved front above his actual depression.

Not even bothering to dress beyond his grey sweatpants, Leo sauntered lazily downstairs and into his kitchen. The house was small, a size he could manage on his own, and as nice as a single bedroom, single bath home could be. If not for the tiny upper floor and lonesome wooded surroundings, it would've seemed more like an apartment. Opening an aged, stainless steel fridge, the man grabbed a single red apple from the near-empty lower shelf and slumped down onto a bar-stool that sat at the bar between the kitchen and den. He flicked on the tiny, outdated flat-screen and locked eyes with a young, male news anchor who continued to recite whatever story he'd been presenting prior. Leo only managed to figure out that it was a lawsuit being filed against a collage football player two cities over before the story changed to that of a recent domestic violence case in the next state. Some guy had suffered a serious beating from his wife with a golf club after she claimed that he threatened her with a knife. Leo wasn't exactly sure whether or not it was a good thing that he only watched with a disinterested glaze over his features.

He'd all but forgotten his meal as the station cycled through stories, commercials, and side-skits about cooking and home decorating. The apple only rolled between his fingers against the bar before slipping from his hand suddenly and dropping to the floor. The sudden thump startled him from his daze. He leaned over to look at the discarded fruit, showing no more interest in it than he had the television. It was but a single, tiny, worthless item that he wished he didn't need... He wouldn't if he went grocery shopping. Leo looked at the clock on the stove. '7:03 am.' Wal-mart would be open for sure.

Caring only slightly about his appearance, Leo walked back upstairs to the master bath and glared at his reflection in the mirror... The years had been gentle on his appearance, at least. He looked older, of course, but he kept a good sense of attractiveness about him with the addition of a few facial features such as a fuzzy goatee and side-burns. His hair remained rather curly, much shorter than it had been in his younger years, but defining, nonetheless. Leo also kept a thin figure, bothering to go out jogging regularly, though not far from his home and not extensively. He had little definition in his body and was simply thin, no more, no less. Turning to the hamper next to the shower, he began to sift through it and smell the usual clothing item in an attempt to find something wearable. He hadn't done laundry in a little while and always decided that three weeks was the maximum amount of time he'd let the clothes fester. It had only been two.

Leo eventually found a worn, pine-green t-shirt and a newer pair of blue jeans. They were loose on him, a comfortable kind of loose, and he didn't bother combing through his hair. There wouldn't be much of a change if he did. When he was little, his hair used to "eat" combs and trips to the barber were ninety percent untangling the styling instruments from his millions of spiral locks. With a sign and feigned, weak smile at himself in the mirror, Leo turned and walked downstairs, put on his shoes, and went to his car, a small, cheap Audi that he had bought from a man in Oregon three years prior. The car was a little worse for the wear, but functioned well enough. He didn't use it too often, anyway. The little grey vehicle started up with a low rumble and Leo turned it around and drove out towards the main road.

The drive was long. He lived a good hour from the nearest town which was only a small farming community who's only draw was the Wal-Mart. Black Creek had the usual main-street with aged, wild-west styled buildings, restored, metal street lights, signs and banners hanging from power lines and light-poles that advertised up-coming or recently-passed community events, and an amalgamation of people that outsiders would call 'interesting' but everyone who knew them would brand them 'boring.' One could only live so long in a town like that before realizing that every small town like it housed all the same things and there was nothing interesting about it at all. Wholesome, maybe, but not-by any definition of the word- 'interesting.'

He made it to the Wal-Mart a little after eight and found himself in the thick of the town's population with the addition of passer-bys who had stopped in Black Creek for provisions on their long road-trips. Leo tried to ignore people, a task which proved nearly impossible whenever he left the house. In spite of his reclusive behavior, everyone in that town seemed to know him and wanted to hear his life story whenever they laid eyes on him. It was that small fact that motivated him to move at a brisk stride and go strait for the things he needed instead of browsing around. Leo filled his buggy with waffles, single-serving pizzas, assorted fruits, and a few different drinks, carbonated or otherwise. It was all he needed for a few weeks and he was happy to give the items no second thoughts as he went to check-out.

Many eyes around him seemed to light up in recognition, one of which being from a older, larger man that lived a few miles away from Leo's own home. They had spoken quite a few times when Leo had gotten eggs from him. After a rather unpleasant incident with a batch of said eggs, they didn't speak for three months. If it was up to him, they would continue not to speak. Perhaps if he was fast enough with the self check-out, it WOULD be up to him. He took to scanning the items with an obvious and shameless act of rushing, not looking up once until he was loading the last of the plastic bags into the buggy and heading towards the exit. He left the cart at the indoor return and made it out with the groceries and without an awkward story glued to his mind for the ride home.

...

The Fridge wasn't much fuller, but it gave him peace of mind. He had food and drink to last him a solid two weeks with his normal eating patterns. No home-cooked meals and he was fine. With a sigh, Leo finally allowed himself to relax on the tan, leather sofa, stretching his body out so that the top of his head and his feet hung over each armrest. It was then that his heart found the comfort to fall in once again and his mind to creep in with those same, void-baring thoughts... Thoughts of insignificance and being small. A meaningless life was one of man's most constant fears, one that drove most to try and make something of their lives,to leave a mark in history for however long it lasted. To him, there was no point. The history of the earth or a single country was nothing in the vastness of existence. It was as if earth was a grain of sand benieth the feet of something tremendous, something that thought itself as insignificant as he did and looked up to the sky with the same trapped feeling.

Another sigh escaped his lips, but this was one of resignation. It was only eleven and he already felt exhausted. Dwelling on mortality tended to do that to him. With nary a twitch, Leo found himself drifting off into a dark, empty abyss.

...

Dirt under his feet, a dark, starless night sky above his head. The dim, full moon shone vaguely down upon him, bathing the world in a baby-blue flush that hardly illuminated anything beyond the closest objects. Rocks... A plain of dusty sand... Stillness save for the wind... Silence in spite of it... Then, there was a thunderous rumble and the ground shook violently. He fell to his hands and knees and turned to look over his shoulder. A set of four red orbs many times the size of himself shone down at him, the only visible part of the massive behemoth as it took another, earth-shattering step. Then, there came the grinding... Sparks lit up inside the vortex of spinning blades, gears, and jagged metal... The bright, white lights shot up and blinded him like flash-bangs, dizzying him to the point of simply collapsing and listening to the sickening sounds of screeching, scraping metal.

...

The thunder came and shook him awake, much louder than the norm as the window of his back-door rattled with the noise. He shot bolt upright and stared, wide-eyed at the rain lashing out at his house and the wind throwing the trees and bushes about violently. His heart raced and lungs screamed for air before his mind was able to register what was going on. He was drenched with sweat and caught in the panic the darkness in his home. Leo collected himself and looked at the clock on the wall over the television. It was almost eight... How he'd been knocked out that long was incredible... He tucked his head in his hands, running his palms over his sweaty face with a moan.

There wasn't anything he wanted to do that day, but having the option would've been great... Seeing as he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon, Leo laid back down and flicked on his television. The channel that popped up first was some movie channel and it was playing an old 'James Bond' film, one of the ones he didn't like all that much. He switched to one of his go-to channels and found it stuck on some western show... Must've been the time when they pandered to the older views. He switched again, this time landing on a newscast with the headline "Elementary School Fundraiser Collects Thirty Thousand for Animal Shelter." Not wanting to latch on at the end of the story, he changed the channel again. His favorite show was on... A re-run, but he didn't mind. There was a certain charm to the program that made seeing old episodes okay. He watched the main character as he went through cancer treatments in a drugged-out state for a few minutes before it cut to another scene, the entire time having a sense of long-forgotten relaxation creeping into him.

It was a refreshing change, one that allowed him to forget many of his problems, if only for a moment. Watching the trials of this character was somewhat of a reminder than things could be worse by a generous margin. As far as a life-crisis went, he had the better end of the stick. He sat there for a while-as the episodes of the show were rather long- and let himself be entirely consumed by it. The only thing that managed to pull him out of it was the end credits. On the bottom corner of the screen, there was a pop-up stating that another episode was coming on next. Leo hoped that it was the episode after the one he'd just watched and, happily enough, it was. Perhaps the people running the network weren't total demons.

Before long, he'd just about watched most of the season, some marathon that they had going as a build-up for a new show, in spite of the fact that this show had ended years ago. Once it was finally over and the new show's opening ten minutes drove him away rather aggressively, Leo finally decided to try and sleep the rest of the night away. He could at least try. He curled up in his bed and made sure to turn on the fan on his dresser. He couldn't sleep without some sort of noise. Silence terrified him. No matter how cold it was, he ALWAYS kept that fan on when he slept and curled up under a pile of blankets when the situation called for it.

He tossed his blanket over his shoulders and nuzzled his way into his pillows, finding a spot on the bed that was comfortable enough and allowing himself to sink into it. His muscles began to un-wind, his breath starting to draw out more until the intake came some short moments after the exhale in long succession. His eye-lids were heavy and mind clouded by whatever it was that allowed him to sleep so much... But he couldn't sleep... He simply laid there, feeling like he could do so for hours and not want to move, but his mind would't pass that threshold. He couldn't tell why... He knew he'd just woken up from a VERY long nap not too long ago, but he felt just as exhausted as he had when he passed out before. What was holding him back? It couldn't be the nightmare, either. Though it plagued him nightly, it didn't bother him that much anymore. It was an old fear that had since lost its frightful luster.

Another roll of thunder broke clean overhead and a flash of lightning tore into his eye-lids, causing them to snap open in irritation. Leo sat up and moaned once more, much louder than before. His hands slapped over his face and ran down it angerly. He wanted to sleep more than anything. He breathed slowly, letting his mind clear and his body relax again. Leo laid back slowly and continued to breathe... Then... there was another sound... A new sound and one so loud that it outmatched the thunder... It was a crash, the sound of ground metal and shattering glass all accompanied by a thump strong enough to shake the house around him. His heart dropped and his body went completely still... His ears perked, listening intently to everything... He heard his fan whirring on the dresser... He heard the rain pattering on the window pane... He heard the trees and bushing blowing about outside, branches tapping windows and walls on the outside... Then he heard a loud, angry moan, the moan of stressing wood and savage cracking...

It was a tree. There was but a moment where Leo felt relieved, mind clinging to the fact that it was only a tree that had fallen in the storm, but the second realization hit him like a truck: A tree must've fallen...on his car. The slamming of metal and shattering glass was from his car! It had to have been. Leo jumped from his bed and rushed downstairs, not once bothering to put on shoes or a jacket. He ran through the front door and stood with teeth and fists clenched when he saw the condition of his vehicle. One of the massive pine-trees around his house had buckled over and collapsed atop the Audi, leaving it but a mass of twisted metal in the dirt.

He twisted his fingers into his soaking wet hair and clenched in frustration so tight that his knuckles turned white. Another roll of thunder... The world twisted in the wind, leaves scattering with the pine straw and rivers of rainwater rolling down his driveway. It was a moment of breakage... a moment where he couldn't take it anymore... A moment where he had had enough. the pressure was building in his chest and rising into his throat. In the intake of breath was almost involuntary. He bit down on all of his self control and released a scream so loud and violent that it made his own ears ring and reached out to the sky with a challenge to the thunder. It echoed through the forest, the grass, and the water until the sound was so far away that it remained only a whisper... And the world quieted... Only for a moment... Then... there was a rumble... A distant rumble and a repetition of quakes that accompanied it.

The feeling in the ground grew and grew, gaining power and volume as it progressed. It was only when it was too late did Leo realize what it was... It was his fears come true...A pair of glowing red eyes broke through the treeline and bathed the darkness with a crimson glow. They stared daggers down at him as the body they were attached to lunged towards him with massive, sweeping moments. He just... stood there... Expecting it all to be another dream... Expecting him to wake up on the floor with another bellow of thunder running off in the distance, but the shaking didn't stop, the sound didn't wake him; he fell to his knees and covered his ears to block it out, but it didn't stop. He kept saying to himself that it was only another nightmare and that he needed to wake up, but he still felt the freezing rain running down his back.

Then it halted...for a single second... There was a clash before the sounds were suspended then came crashing back down with another, much more aggressive quake. Cracking and scraping metal was all he could hear and he shot his head around to see that another figure had joined the first. They were locked together in a wrestling match, one unable to make the other let go until the larger one, the red-eyed one, lifted the second by the arms and tossed him to the gravel. The slightly smaller one landed just feet from Leo, spraying him with small rocks and muddy water. At that proximity, he could see that the alien had slick, black armor and a very bulky frame, one that reminded the Human of Bumblebee, in a way. It's face was hidden by a sleek, black screen. The second got up quickly and threw itself at the other. They both tumbled into the trees, knocking a massive pocket of them down as they fell. The larger threw the smaller off of it, but the smaller was able to roll to its feet and brace as the former lunged for it. They collided again and gripped eachother's forearms. The smaller of the two stood steady, its feet planted firmly in the dirt while the larger one was kicking feverishly, unable to find balance against the force of the other.

It was then that the smaller one slipped out of the way and let the larger fall forward into the mud, hitting it's head on the trunk of a fallen tree on the way down. Without hesitation, the smaller one turned and its hand flipped back into its wrist. Gears turned and, before long, a gun had taken its place. Quicker than Leo's brain could register what was even happening, a pillar of blue light burst from the barrel and bore into the back of the larger alien, spraying red fluid, mud, and wood-chips in a vast circle. The alien lowered the gun and watched intently, waiting silently for the other to move... it didn't so much as twitch.

A jagged breath escaped Leo's lips, one so loud that it betrayed him. The winner of their duel turned to look at him, screen completely blank and black...

...until two little lights flickered to life upon its sleek, empty face.


End file.
